This recipe for Salmon Spaghetti “Carbonara” belongs to your ‘sexy food’ folder and it goes without saying you should have some nice company along with a glass (or three) of chilled Champagne to go with it. The idea here is to replace the requisite guanciale, cured pork jowl, with smoked salmon. I had a piece of olive-oil poached salmon belly and some roe left from a dinner party which i also used. The salmon roe, while optional, add pleasing bursts of briny flavor. I like to think of it as an umami version of pop rocks. You could also lie to your guest by telling them you made those using your molecular gastronomy kit. Whatever rocks your boat.

I’ve kept it fairly simple this time. In the original, guanciale (or pancetta) is rendered and crisped, the fat and crispy bits added to beaten eggs. Abundant black pepper and grated Parmesan go into the mix. At the last minute, the heat and starch of the cooked pasta, straight from the colander, thicken and partially cook the beaten-egg mixture. The result is an an unctuous sauce that clings to every strand of spaghetti, linguine, or fettuccine. This version omits the guanciale and also the parmesan but includes a little sour cream to give the sauce extra body. Add some roughly chopped dill and some grated lemon zest to the mix and get ready for something extremely delicious.

Now i’ve done my part, you do yours. Just don’t forget to blow-out the candles after you’re done.

So pretty Zen and perfect color combinations. Yellow, green, orange and salmon pink. You are unbelievable!!!

http://dolceinewyork.blogspot.com Dolce

I am a huge fan of 1.carbonara (I cooked a poached egg version lately), 2.salmon, 3.salmon roe. So your recipe comes in very handy. Yum!

http://thelittleteochew.blogspot.com The Little Teochew

Your cooking is art. Edible art.

Ju

http://weareneverfull.com Jonny

now, why would I want to pretend I had a molecular gastronomy kit? I feel like whereas my Dad used to get my these awful chemistry sets for Christmas, these days kids a Wylie Dufresne signature molecular gastronomy kit…
by the way, this looks terrific! I think that if we made it, and we might well, we’d render some bacon or guanciale fat instead or as well as the butter. it might ruin the purity of the dish and compete with the lemon, but i do love the combo of pork and seafood. I wonder if one could poach the salmon in bacon grease…?

http://www.sugarbar.org diva@The Sugar Bar

oh what a beautiful dish and carbonara sure is a sexy comfort food. nothing quite like it! love your take on it

INCREDIBLY beautiful shots and I’m just amazed at teh simplicity of the meal – easy to cook yet it’s made of all the ingredients that I’m absolutely in love with – pasta + salmon + red caviar! Yay! THANK YOU